


Road Trip

by Smapdi



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2015-02-20
Packaged: 2018-02-15 07:24:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2220576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smapdi/pseuds/Smapdi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richie and Ramon are tying the knot, and our heroes have to drive to Florida. Can they make it there and back with an intact relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wedding Bells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alittlenutjob](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlenutjob/gifts).



> Based on a prompt which was basically road trip + smut.

"Rich. Seriously? I mean, I'm happy for you..."

"Then that's all you need to say, big brother. I know how you feel about marriage." Richie's voice is firm, with just the tiniest undercurrent of "expletive, don't kill my vibe." 

"Look, the Castellano track record ain't so hot, buddy. I just want you to be sure that when you do it, it's gonna be for life." Danny adjusts the phone so it won't slip as he piles pancakes on a plate. "Min! Come eat! I have news."

"Danny, thank you for worrying but don't. I'm good, Ramon is good, we love each over, and it's gonna be forever. We've been talking about it for a while, you know. We were really just waiting for it to be legal."

As Richie speaks, he can hear a high pitched squeal from the background come to the forefront as Mindy wrenches the phone from Danny's grasp. "Richie! Oh my GOD! Congratulations!!"

"See, that's what want to hear. Thank you, darling. Teach that to your boyfriend."

Mindy giggles. "Yeah, right! Okay, tell me everything." She sits down and listens with rapt attention as she devours her pancakes. Danny just shakes his head and keeps cooking. Every few minutes, she squeals or sighs as Richie describes their plans. 

Finally she says her goodbyes and hands the phone back just as Danny is about to take his first bite of breakfast. 

"Hey, I know it's short notice, but you'll stand up for me, right? I'd really love to have you as my best man." 

"God, Richie, of course. Of course. I love you, man. But shit, three weeks, really? Don't you guys usually spend forever planning?" 

"Like I said, we've been talking about it for a while. And way to stereotype, Dan. Do you think you can help Ma with the flight arrangements?"

"You mean pay for them?" Danny chuckles. "Yeah, I'll cover her, and the hotel too. But Mindy and I are going to have to drive. Jesus, Richie, can't you get married up here?"

"Oh shit, bro. I forgot. You never did tell me how you got on the no-fly list." 

"Yeah, not gonna. I'm sure Mindy will, since you guys are best friends now or something."

"It's a tier, Danny!" She shouts across the table. "What am I telling him, Danny?"

"Why you made it so we can't fly to the wedding."

"Me? Danny, you're the one whose pants fell down when the Air Marshal came in! I was fully clothed!"

"Okay, Dan, you have to tell me this story, but I've got to make some more calls. I'll email you all the details so you can make plans."

Easier said than done. First Danny had to rearrange patients and beg Jeremy and Peter to take over so they had enough time off to drive, which Jeremy found "ridiculous" because their "shenanigans have had enough long term repercussions on our business." Peter simply stated "aw, yiss, she learned to use the suction" and hooted out of the room. 

Then Danny and Mindy had to make the actual travel plans. It was easy enough to make arrangements for Danny's mom, because he prepaid everything and set her up in the hotel where the wedding reception was being held. But of course, since this was an added, unplanned expense, he tried to make it clear to Mindy that they would need to economize in their travel. 

"Do what now?" 

"Min, with the cost of gas, and food and lodging for eight days, it's gonna be nuts. I need you to book a small car - like one of those little ones with the zippy names. But not Japanese! And I'll let you pick where we stop on the way, if there's a Motel 6 kinda place. I figure if we cover about six hours a day we can get three in three days." 

Mindy carefully notes each of his specific requirements and proceeds to completely ignore them. 

She didn't exactly spell this out in advance, though. Danny didn't ask questions, and she knew spending nine days together, six of them cooped up in a tiny car and sleeping in cramped, grubby motel rooms, would definitely tax their still fresh relationship. It had only been about six weeks since they had reunited, and though at the time there was declarations of love and commitment, they hadn't really discussed anything since then. 

They were far too busy having ridiculous amounts of sex. 

So Mindy's decision was entirely unselfish, for the good of the relationship, you see. She waits until Danny is half asleep before she gives him a quick rundown of the itinerary. 

"Okay, we pick up the rental car at 8 am on Tuesday. It'll probably take us an hour to get out of the city, so we can start scouting out lunch spots around noon? And hopefully get to Richmond by fiveish. That should work for us all three days." Mindy closes her laptop and sets it aside, then plucks Danny's novel out of his hands. "Are you paying attention to me? No. Are you going to yell at me when you don't know what we're doing and it's suddenly the day before we leave?"

"No. Are you going to come with me tomorrow to get my damned tux? Yes." Danny takes off his reading glasses and sets them by the bed, checks his alarm, and then rolls back to grab Mindy by the hip. "I heard everything you said, but print it out for me anyway."

Mindy sighs and snuggles a little closer. She runs her hand up under Danny's shirt to rest it on his chest, and plays with the coarse hairs across his pecs. Leaning forward, she gives him a quick kiss, right in the hollow of his throat, then slides her mouth up his neck, and when she reaches his stubbly jaw, she can see him grinning. 

"What?"

"What?" He parrots back. 

"Why are you smiling like that?" 

His eyes are dark and lazy. "The most beautiful woman in the world is making a move on me. How can I not smile?" 

Mindy feels her face warm up. "I wasn't making a move. I just like the way your skin feels under my lips."

"Go on..." Danny pulls her flush against him and lets his hand wander from her hip up to her chest, cupping her breast over the soft old t-shirt she was wearing. She hadn't yet started bringing her own clothes over - not that they would have been on for long anyway, but it seemed a little presumptuous to do so already. Even though she stayed over most nights, she still waited for an invitation. 

"Go on where? You're so full of yourself," she teases. 

"I'd rather you were full of me." He runs his hand down to the hem of her shirt and slips it underneath to her waist. "You look so hot in my shirts."

"Sweet talker. Listen, Danny," Mindy's tone turns serious. "This is kind of... big, what we're doing. We're going to be together full time for nine days, and it's could get stressful. Do you think we'll be okay?"

Danny furrows his brow. "Of course. I'm excited to spend all that time with you." He exhales deeply. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 

"It's more than a thousand miles, Danny."

"Mindy,it's a metaph..."

"I know, shut up." She kisses him quiet and grins. 

"But really, with all we've been through, you think a little road trip is gonna be a problem?" 

"No, it's gonna be a blast. It's funny though..." Mindy bites her lip for a second as Danny hand slides over her ass, pulling her tighter against him. Something is stirring against her thigh and it's... distracting. 

"Hmmm?"

"You didn't actually ask me to go to the wedding. You just took it for granted that I'd go with you."

Danny stops the movement of his hand and pulls back a little. "You do want to go, don't you?" 

"Yes, yes, of course. I just... I don't know, I wouldn't have assumed..."

"Min." Danny reaches for her face and cups her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. "This... us. We're together. You're my best friend, my lover... Of course I didn't think I had to ask."

"You didn't..."

He stops her mouth with his thumb. "Shhh. Mindy, you're part of my family now. You're... you're my everything, okay?"

Mindy feels the sting of tears and swallows. "Dammit, Danny..." 

"Hey, don't cry." Danny smooths his thumb over her cheek as a drop slides free.

"They're happy tears... I just love how you can say things like that now."

He grins as she pushes him onto his back, so she can angle a leg across his hips and slide herself on top of him. 

"I'm getting better at it. You bring it out in me."

"Oh, you are so getting lucky tonight." She dips her head to kiss him and he sits up, bringing her into his lap and slipping her shirt up over her head. 

"I'm lucky every minute of every day." He leans forward to kiss her collarbone and brings a hand back up to her breast. 

"Baby, I'm a sure thing, you can stop." 

"Never." He pulls her down on top of him and rolls them both over. Mindy runs her hands over his smooth muscular back and down under his shorts to grab on to his ass and pull him closer. 

"A thousand miles, huh?" She moans as his mouth moves down her chest and his lips pluck at a nipple. "That makes it sound like - uh! - you're in this for a while..."

Danny rises up and looks down at her. "A little while. How long is forever?"

Mindy grins back. "It's just a little longer than that documentary on the Parliament you made me sit through. Why do you ask?" 

"You know..." He leans back down and gives her a long, slow kiss. "You know."


	2. King of the Road

"Sixteen hundred dollars!?" 

Danny's face turns crimson as angry little veins pop out in his forehead. Mindy grabs his wrist to stop him from breaking the cheap pen in his tightened fist. "What the hell? It's a rental, I'm not buying the damn thing!"

"Baby. Baby, it's okay. I requested an upgrade."

Danny turns his head so slowly that Mindy worries that he might have had an aneurism. He closes his eyes and blows a harsh breath out of his nose as he tries to compose himself. The woman behind the counter steps back. 

"You upgraded?" His tone is that of controlled fury. "What kind of upgrade costs sixteen hundred dollars? Are we riding unicorns to Florida?"

Mindy rubs his arm and smiles sweetly. "Silly. You wanted something small to save on gas, but we're going to be in the car so long, and we need to be comfortable... It's a really nice little Mercedes, Danny."

His eyes are still fiery. "I said American!"

"You said not Japanese."

"You know what I meant!" He turns back to the clerk. "What else do you have available?"

"I'm sorry sir, but we don't currently have any unreserved vehicles at this location. I can check other locations for you... However, because this is a special order, we would have to charge a cancellation penalty of 20%." The clerk cringes as Danny's hand clenches around a stapler. It's been chucked at her head before. 

"Danny, just calm down. You don't need to have a temper tantrum." Mindy takes the potential weapon out of his hand and rubs his back. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier so you could have your hissy fit in private. I'll pay for half."

"No, you won't." Danny slams his hand on the counter in frustration. 

"Fine, I'll pay the whole difference. And the gas, and the mileage. Just sign the papers so we can get going."

"No." He glares at her again, but resignedly handles the paperwork. No one speaks as they walk out to pick up the car, until the clerk points out a small dent on the bumper and notes it on the check out sheet. Danny signs it and takes the keys that she gingerly hands to him before scurrying back to the safety of the building. 

"Well now I know why you wanted to come pick up the car with me." Danny growls as he wrenches open the door and slams his body into the soft leather seat. Mindy sighs as she gets in. 

"That was really embarrassing, Danny."

His knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel. "Any other surprises you want to lay on me before we go?"

"Well, yeah. We aren't staying at the no-tell motels on the way. I reserved nice rooms, on my credit card. Danny, we can afford this, and we should be able to enjoy ourselves."

He stays silent, not yet calm enough to take the very expensive car out into NYC traffic. She waits while he stares at the brick wall ahead of them until he finally turns to look at her, and the rage in his eyes is replaced by hurt, catching her completely off guard. 

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" His voice is strained. 

"It's a really nice car, Danny."

His eyes close. "I'm not talking about the car. Mindy, we have to be honest with each other if we want this to work. Why would you pull a stunt like this?" 

"I... I just thought it would be nicer for us, and I knew you'd never okay it if you knew how much it cost." Mindy feels her throat start to swell as she fights off tears. "I didn't think you'd get this mad over a thousand bucks."

"It's not the money, Min. I mean, yeah, it's partly the money, but I just can't... this is serious to me, what we're doing. I have to trust you."

"Oh God, Danny. Stop." She peels his hand off the steering wheel and laces her fingers through his. "I'm sorry. It was thoughtless of me, and I promise I won't do it again. And maybe you can promise not to be such a tightwad?" She brings his hand up to her lips and kisses it, first on the back, then the knuckles. 

"Min, it's not funny." He exhales and looks at her, his eyes softer now. 

"I know." Mindy gently bites at his knuckle. "Old habits die hard. I promise, no more games. I'll tell you everything."

"Okay." He relents. "I'll try not to be such a dick that you think you have to do that."

"Perfect. I love you, Dan."

"I love you, Min." He tugs his hand free. "Let's get going."

They head back to pick up their luggage - Danny had left his one suitcase and his garment bag with his tuxedo at Mindy's place, so with those plus Mindy's three oversize bags, the trunk is packed tight. Danny holds his tongue. 

"Thank you for not telling me I overpacked." She whispers in his ear as he throws in the last of the bags. He responds by pinching her ass, and they smile at each other and start over. 

\---

NYC traffic and short fuses do not go well together. By the time they are out of the city, Danny is a brittle, tense ball of nerves. Mindy rubs his neck and shoulders to try and de-stress him a little, to no avail. 

"Aw, sweetie, I know you're trying so hard not to be a grouch. It should be better from here on out." 

Danny rolls his shoulders into her touch and exhales. He gives her a quick, tight smile before focusing on the road ahead. 

"I think you should let me drive once we stop for gas. You can have a chance to relax."

"No, no. I'm more comfortable driving."

"Right. Because when I look up the definition of comfortable, it reads sweaty, angry, and gritted teeth." Mindy resets the temperature to freezing and fiddles with the air vents to direct them more towards her face. 

"Do we really need the arctic in here, Min?" Danny snaps. 

"Nine days, Danny." Mindy's voice is light, but has a warning tone. She turns down the air a few degrees and gives him a bright smile. "We can compromise. And for fun, you can try asking nicely instead of using sarcasm as a weapon."

"Right." He smiles, a little warmer now. "Still working on that not being a dick thing."

"You'll get there." 

The next hour goes smoother, as they pass through New Jersey back into Danny's stomping ground, Staten Island. Danny starts to relax as he points out the landmarks from his childhood. 

"That's Mariner's Harbor, over there " His accent grows thicker, as if by osmosis. "I moved Ma outta there when I started making money."

"Is that where you met all the Puerto Rican girls?" 

Danny smirks and gives her a side glance. 

"You're such a racist," Mindy huffs. "So, where's Port Dogkill?"

"Who cares about Port Dogkill? And I'm not a racist. I was a short skinny sixteen year old kid with no money. It just happened that the only girls who would give me the time of day were Puerto Rican." He shrugs self consciously. "They thought I was exotic."

Mindy collapses in a fit of giggles. "Oh God, I'm really looking forward to finally meeting your mom. I am going to get so much blackmail material!"

"Yeah, yeah. Ma has my back. She's just gonna tell you what a good kid I was."

"Oh, I have my ways, lil D." She lays her head back on the head rest and smiles. "Can we drive through your old neighborhood?"

"Not in this car. Some other time maybe." 

They stop for gas as they pass through Delaware. Danny has already complained about the tolls and the terrible drivers, so naturally the gas prices push him over the edge. Mindy realizes he will be doing more driving on this trip than he has in the entire time he's had a license, and she gets why he's so damn tense. She just can't stand it anymore. 

While Danny pumps the gas, she canvasses the mini-mart/truck stop and finds what she needs. When he comes in to pay, Mindy drags him towards the empty back area where the restrooms are. 

"What?" He sputters as she hurries him along. 

"I need your help." Taking a quick look around and seeing no one, she opens the small individual restroom door and shoves him inside, locking it behind her. The room is slightly larger than an airplane lavatory, with all the same ambiance, only since it's on the ground, there are no bonus points. 

"With what?" He asks, in a panicky tone. She ignores him and pulls a cover out of the receptacle to lay on the toilet seat. "You need help going pee?"

"No, silly." She grabs the loops of his jeans and pulls him towards her as she sits down, still clothed. "I need you to help me by calming the fuck down, and this always works."

Danny stares at her in shock as her hands move to the button of his jeans. "What are you... MIN!"

"Shush." She is nimble fingered, and before he can even think to stop her, she deftly unzips him and reaches into his fly to remove his cock from his pants. 

"What the hell?" He whispers, in a higher pitch than normal. "Min, I'm pretty sure what you're planning is illegal!"

Mindy looks up at him and licks her lips, causing a predictable reaction. "Come on, this bathroom has seen plenty of action. Besides, it's not like you're paying me." He is already stiffening on her palm. "Unless you think I'm earning it..." 

Her lips envelop him. She runs the tip of her tongue along the bottom ridge of the head and then flattens it, stroking the underside of his shaft. Considering his age, he can still get hard almost as quickly as the skinny kid he used to be, though Mindy is glad he's developed more stamina than a teen. She doesn't need that right now, though - she needs this to be quick. 

When he's fully erect, she wraps her fingers around him tightly and pumps, letting her mouth provide lubrication as needed, and soon Danny has to steady himself with one hand against the wall. His other hand roams through her hair, lightly gripping the back of her head. 

"Min... Oh my god... You feel so fucking good... What the fuck are we doing..."

Mindy just moans in response and increases the pace of her hand. When his grunting becomes a little too loud and she feels the increase of pressure from his fingers, she knows he is close. 

"Ohhhh... Min, I'm... Ohhhh..."

She wraps her tongue around him as tightly as she can and sucks him hard, and he fights off the need to thrust as he comes down her throat. She keeps it up until his last shudder leaves his body and he starts to soften, then she delicately kisses the tip and tucks him into his shorts. 

Danny leans up against the wall to get his bearings while she quickly washes her hands. He's buttoning and zipping as she cups a hand under the faucet and rinses out her mouth. 

"Ugh, I think that water might be worse," she mutters after spitting it out. 

"What, you don't like how I taste?" 

"Oh, baby." Mindy dries her hands on a paper towel and lifts her palm to caress his cheek. "No." She cracks open the door to look for possible witnesses. "And I do it anyway. All clear, get out. I have to pee."

When she's finished, she finds Danny back at the car with a bag full of terribly unhealthy snacks waiting in her seat, and a serene smile on his face. It almost lasts till they get to Virginia.


	3. Drive, She Said

"Min. Min... Mindy!"

"Huh? What. What's happening. Where are we?" Mindy startles awake from a sound sleep and paws blindly around the car. 

"Hey, we're about to cross the Potomac."

She stares groggily at the handsome yet clearly deranged driver who had just woken her up to announce a river crossing. 

"Did you think I needed to be awake for that?" 

"Well... you've been asleep almost two hours. You're gonna have a hard time getting to sleep tonight. And it's kind of cool..."

"I will sleep just fine, and it is the exact opposite of cool, Danny." Mindy grabs at her thick locks, now matted with sweat. "You turned off the air conditioner in the middle of the afternoon and then woke me up. I feel like part of me has melted." 

Danny shrugs and gives her a meek smile. "Turn it back on if you want..." Her hands are already batting at the controls, randomly pushing buttons. "Anyway, I was bored. Talk to me."

She suppresses a grin. Danny has certainly come a long way - from never wanting to talk to her, to waking her up to chat - and she considers herself responsible for this. 

"Are you getting sleepy? I can take over driving." 

"No, it's fine. Go back to sleep if you don't want..."

"I just don't want you to crash and kill us both. I want to die at 95 with flawless skin and perky boobs." Mindy stretches and yawns. "What's on your mind?"

"I don't know. Tell me a story." 

"What are you, five? Okay, what kind of story? Do you want celebrity gossip? Or should I tell you gross stuff the nurses have told me?"

"What kind of gross? Like sex stuff?" Danny's eyebrows jump up. 

"Well, I was thinking about the things they've pulled out of peoples butts, so I guess yeah?"

"No. That's... not what I had in mind at all. At all." He makes a face and shivers. "Tell me stuff I don't know about you."

"Is there anything left? What do you want to know?" 

"I don't know. Tell me stories from your childhood, or college. Tell me about your residency." He gives her a sly look. "We've known each other since back then. Tell me what you really thought of me when we met."

"Didn't I already tell you that?" Mindy grins, recalling a fight not so long ago, before this roller coaster ride began, before it morphed into the fucking teacups. "You just want me to talk about you. I get it. You just had a roundabout way of getting there."

"No. Yeah. I mean, you told me stuff when you were pissed at me. I thought maybe you might remember... different things now."

"Like, how I thought you were smokin' hot?" 

Danny laughs and shakes his head. "No, no, I meant..."

"I did, you know." She pauses to soak up the memory of a very different Danny Castellano. "I thought you were crazy, bangable hot. Those lips, come on! And you were so cocky and confident, it was just ridiculous."

"Really?" He seems surprised. 

"Oh God, yeah. I was crushing on you bigtime. But you were so intimidating, and besides, you really didn't like me." 

"I didn't dislike you."

"Yeah, right. You didn't want to have anything to do with me. I could barely get you to talk to me."

Danny grinns crookedly at her and rakes his eyes up and down her body. "I didn't want to talk to you." 

"Whaaaat?" 

"You heard me."

"I just don't believe you."

"Are you kidding? You drove me fucking crazy. Why do you think it was so hard for me to take things slow? I'd already been waiting five years."

"Wow... Well, I guess you hid it well." Mindy is a little taken aback. She had always assumed Danny had somehow fallen for her and that made him physically attracted to her, so it's startling to hear the opposite was true. 

"I guess. I don't know how, though. You never noticed how I'd look at you? I thought it was horribly obvious." 

"Seriously, no, I didn't. I think it might have been because you were an unrelenting asshole to me for so long."

"Yeah, I'm sure I was. It was just... I was a mess. You were just... a lot. I mean, you still are." He earns a pinch for that. "No, it's good. But it was too much for me back then. You threw me off balance, and it took me a while to adjust."

"Wow. So you mean we could have had this all along? I wanted you, you wanted me - how did we miss that?"

"It wouldn't have worked out if we got together back then. We are both really different people now, Min. I know I am, and it's because of you. But I'm pretty sure I would have fucked it up if we had tried it then."

"Fucked it up more, you mean?" Mindy has a mischievous glint in her eye. 

"Well, yeah. So this... it worked out alright. I think we were in the right place at the right time." He reaches for her hand and squeezes. "I'm really glad we got here."

"I'm really glad I didn't seduce you in the on call room like I planned."

It's Danny's turn to be shocked. "What? When was this?"

"Oh, I don't know. Not long after I started residency. I just remember I was in the locker room, and you were changing into scrubs and you had your shirt over your head. It was just... mmm... I think I was drooling. I thought maybe you caught me looking, because when you went by, you brushed up against my ass."

He full on laughs and runs his hand over his reddening face. "Oh, God. I did that every chance I got."

"You dick, I knew it! I should sue for sexual harassment!" 

"You totally should. So why didn't you do it? Seduce me, I mean?"

"I chickened out. I wasn't quite as bold as I am now, especially around you. I figured you'd shoot me down."

"That is funny. That is so funny." Danny grins at her again. "I wouldn't have, you know. I would have totally hit that."

"You're an idiot. Can we stop for lunch soon?"

\---

After a very quick meal, they head back into the home stretch for the last few hours of the drive. By the time they roll up to the hotel, Danny is too tired to argue about Mindy's extravagance. This place is no Motel 6. 

"The Berkeley? Geez, Min, I don't even want to know what it's costing. Just go check us in." He hands her his credit card and she pockets it. Mindy has no intention of letting him pay for everything, but she'll let him pick up dinner. 

Danny drags the luggage into the room and silently curses Mindy's packing addiction. For one night, she still needed to bring in all three bags. While she fiddles around finding things, Danny finds his way to the plush king sized bed and collapses on it. He plucks pillow after pillow off to make room, and as Mindy starts chattering about dinner, he throws one at her. 

"Hey! You nearly knocked my phone out of my hands. I don't have insurance on it, Danny! They won't keep replacing them anymore."

"Sorry. I'll buy you a new one. I just need to sleep."

"Oh come on, it's not even five."

"Well, I'm tired. I drove all day." 

"Because you wouldn't let me take over. I'm driving tomorrow, Danny."

"Yeah, we'll see."

"No, we won't see. And I want to eat here. So take a nap and we can go to their Date Night dinner."

"Tuesday night is date night?" Danny mumbles sleepily. 

"Every night. They have chicken pot pie, Danny!" She coos over the menu. "And chocolate cake for dessert."

"Mmm. Come here." He pats the bed beside him. Mindy crawls up and wraps herself around him as he drifts to sleep. 

\---

Two hours later, Mindy's phone alarm wakes them both. Mindy runs off to freshen up and change into a cute dress, while Danny groggily tries to figure out the TV remote. She makes him change into a dress shirt and they head downstairs where the dining room is serving the couples dinner. 

"This is perfect, Danny. Dinner for two and a bottle of wine. If you get the chicken pot pie, I'll get the shrimp, and we can share!"

"Fine. Geez. I can't wake up. I feel like a truck hit me."

The dinner is excellent by hotel food standards and the wine isn't half bad either. Mindy drinks two thirds of it and eats about the same percent of the pie, so when the waiter comes around to offer the complimentary dessert, she begs for a to-go box. 

"Min, just skip it. I'm stuffed."

"It's chocolate cake, Danny. Anyway, who turns down free dessert?"

Danny just grins. "I had... other plans for dessert."

"I thought you were so sleepy." 

"I got a second wind."

He settles the bill while Mindy collects her cake, and they hold hands as they head back upstairs. Danny tugs her to him when they get in the elevator and she yelps. The cake box is flattened between them. 

"Danny, you squashed it!" She pushes him back and opens the box to find the lovely chocolate dessert is now basically a smear. "I'm still gonna eat it, you know." 

"Yep." Danny drags her into the room as she mourns her treat. He sticks a finger into the icing and dabs it on her lower lip, so she grabs his hand and delicately licks the icing off while gazing into his eyes. 

"Babe, if you get chocolate on this dress, I have to buy a new one for the reception dinner. So please let me take it off."

"Be my guest." As Mindy slips her shoes off, he slides the zipper down and reaches his hands in around her waist, letting his mouth ghost over one shoulder and up her neck. She carefully steps out of the dress and lays it over a chair, then picks up the cake box again. 

"They didn't give me a fork, Danny." She takes a bite directly from the box and then kisses him with her chocolatey tongue. He sucks on it for a moment before he moves his mouth lower, across her collarbone and over the swell of her breast. "Mmm. You're definitely wide awake now," she sighs as she runs her hand down the front of his pants. 

"Mindy Lahiri, are you trying to seduce me?"

Mindy laughs and turns away from him, heading to the bed, cake in hand. "I'm just trying to eat my dessert, handsome." She sets the box down and unsnaps her bra. Danny follows her, leaving a trail of clothes until he's just in boxers. She scrapes some chocolate up with her fingers and licks them. 

"Oh, God. Stop." Danny wrestles her onto the bed, kissing her fiercely. She laughes and wiggles out from under him to grab more cake. In no time, the mess gets bigger, as Danny takes a handful and shoves it into his own mouth, spilling crumbs and chunks onto Mindy's body. He licks it up and kisses her again, spreading chocolate across her face. 

"Ugh, Danny, this is like those awful weddings where the bride and groom smash the cake on each other's faces," she giggles. 

Danny stops suddenly and looks down at her. "You don't like that?" 

Mindy looks back up at him, feeling a little breathless. "Nnnn...no." 

"Good to know," he whispers and kisses her again with a little more urgency. Sleep can wait. 


	4. The Sweetest Thing

"Okay, all checked out. Did you grab some stuff from the breakfast bar for the road?" Danny meets Mindy at the car, ready to head out. 

"Who do you think you're talking to?" She displays a bag full of fruit, bagels and pastries, twirling so her sundress flares out just a bit. "This should last us till lunch. There's not a lot of actual, like, towns and stuff on the way, so we might have to wing it a little. But I figure if we trade off around the two hour mark it should let us both be a little better off than yesterday."

"We'll see. Yesterday was fine." 

"Oh please, Danny. You were like a coma patient just from driving. I want us both to enjoy the trip." 

"I seem to remember you enjoying the trip twice last night." Danny grabs a muffin and bites into the top, spilling crumbs onto his lap. 

"Yeah, yeah." Mindy plugs her phone into the adapter jack and sets up Pandora. They had a few preset stations and agreed to switch off - for every two of Mindy's "terrible noise" they would play one of Danny's "old ass crap."

The drive starts off pleasant, but it's rather dull. Mindy enjoyed the open landscape for about ten minutes before it all started to look the same to her. An hour later, she's really over it, writing apology letters to the FAA in her head, and by the two hour mark she's nearly jumping out of her seat. 

Danny refuses to swap with her, though. They've just passed into North Carolina and through the only city area, and he sees no reason to just randomly pull over on a highway. At least, until they hit dead stop traffic right around the time Mindy's morning coffee begins to seek it's freedom. 

"Danny, there's a jackknifed big rig about six miles ahead," Mindy explains as she consults her traffic app. "We aren't going anywhere for a while. I need to find a bathroom."

Danny raises one eyebrow. 

"Not like yesterday, perv. I have to pee!"

"Let me see your map dealie bobber." He takes the phone and glares at it, swiping and tapping without the slightest idea how it works. Mindy leans over and adjusts the screen it so it's readable, then points out the functions. 

"Well, shit, Min. I don't think there's going to be a restroom at this off ramp, but we can try." Danny ekes over to get off the highway and his prediction is accurate - there's nothing at this exit but farms. Mindy squirms in her seat. 

"Danny, go knock on a farmhouse door like it's the 1930's." 

"What farmhouse? There's nothing but crops and machinery," Danny peered out, looking at the desolate landscape. "It's like the apocalypse happened."

"Oh, God, Danny, there was a Starbucks back there. It's only a few miles back, can we turn around?" Mindy has Google maps open on her phone and has zoomed in to look longingly at a photo of civilization. 

"And go through that traffic twice? It'll probably take us an hour to get there as it is." Danny thumps the steering wheel. "What do you want me to do?"

She spies a little thicket and has him pull over. "I've gotta go, Danny. I'm not about to spend the next week with a UTI that I didn't earn the fun way." Grabbing a fistful of napkins, she hops from the car and heads behind a shrub. 

Danny follows her. 

"What are you doing?" She shrieks when she turns and hikes up her skirt and sees him waiting. "I don't want you to watch me pee!"

He's nonplussed. "I've seen you naked, Mindy. A lot. And you pee in front of me all the time. I almost feel like you do it on purpose, like you're marking your territory."

"That's in a toilet, like a normal person. You can't even see anything," Mindy squirms and squeezes her legs together. "I don't want you to have this picture in your head of me squatting like a dog." 

"You're being ridiculous. Fine." Danny holds his hands over his eyes and Mindy turns sideways, pulling her panties down and squatting. As soon as she starts to go, she loses her balance and topples over with a scream. 

"What the hell?" Danny comes over to help her up, still shielding his eyes as best he can. 

"Oh, god, Danny, I peed on my leg!" She's still half crouched and he holds her up so she can finish. 

"You should have just let me help you in the first place. Guys are pros at peeing in the woods."

Wiping herself with the napkins, she goes to pull up her underwear and finds they were a casualty of the fall. 

"Shit." Mindy grimaces and slips them off. "Stop laughing, you asshole."

Danny turns pink as he's overcome with giggles. "Sorry, sorry," he gasps, brushing debris off her bare ass. She yanks down her skirt and stalks past him, wet underwear and napkins balled in her fist, and goes back to the car. Mindy doesn't have a spare in her purse, and the suitcases are like Tetris blocks in the trunk, so fuck it, she's going commando. She stuffs everything in a ziplock - there's nowhere to throw garbage and she's not about to litter, at least not with expensive VS undies - and wipes her hands off with sanitizer. 

"This is gross and unladylike." She huffs as she gets back in the car. "Men have it way too easy to pee."

"Yeah, Min. We can even write our names in the snow." 

\---

Back on the road, traffic is still brutal. Mindy's app says they've cleared out one lane, but with only two to begin with, it's not a fast process and their side trip put them back into the thick of it. At least she's a lot more comfortable now. 

She's still a little mad at him for laughing at her ordeal, though. And then Mindy devises a plan to make him pay. 

It starts with Pandora. She found that Danny doesn't seem to complain about mellow R&B, so she makes a Sade channel and leans her seat back a notch. 

Danny glances at her and catches her with a tiny smile on her lips and her hand on her bare knee. 

"This is an interesting choice," he says and her grin widens. Closing her eyes, Mindy moves her shoulders slowly in time with the music and inches her hand upwards. 

"It's... relaxing," she sighs. She opens her eyes slowly and he's still staring at her, so she licks her lips slowly and sings along quietly. "You gave me the kiss of life..."

She's got her skirt pulled up now, her thighs parted, and she ghosts her hand up her leg, gazing at him and catching her lower lip with her teeth. 

"Min." Danny says with a tremor. "Stop."

"What? I'm enjoying the music." 

"Yeah, a little too much." 

The song changes and she sings the lyrics to him, never breaking eye contact, moving her body languidly to the music. She's got just enough of her skirt hiked up to tease him and it's devastating. 

"I wish I didn't get so weak, ooh, baby, just to hear you speak, makes me argue just to see, how much you're in love with me." She slides her hand between her legs and arches her back, moaning low in her throat. 

Danny tears his eyes away and back to the road when he hears the loud honk from the car behind him. He's let two or three cars into the gap ahead while he was staring at her. As soon as he's closed the distance and is stopped again, he grabs her phone and tries to change the station. When he fails, he yanks out the adapter and shuts off the radio. 

"That's not nice, Mindy!"

"It's not nice to laugh when I fall in my own pee, Danny."

"Fine. Can we call a truce? You don't remind me that you're not wearing panties when I can't do anything about it, and I'll do my best to ensure you have access to indoor plumbing." Danny stares out at the sea of brake lights, hoping for some Moses-like intervention that can get them though faster. 

"What do you mean, can't do anything about it?" Mindy takes him by the wrist and pulls his hand into her lap. 

"Min, I can't, I gotta... focus... on the road." His fingers graze the warm, silky skin on her inner thigh, but he doesn't try to pull his hand free. He glances at her quickly and she releases his wrist, snaking her hand out to stroke his lap. He's hard as a rock, straining against his jeans. "Fuck. Min..." Danny turns his head and catches the eye of the passenger in the next car. "Shit, shit. Min, stop, that looks just like Sister Mary Denise. I can't... not with her right there." He pulls his hand free and pushes hers away. 

"Oh, Danny, you just remember, you had your shot." Mindy licks her lips again and then fishes out a tube of Chapstick, stroking it on while pouting. "All this traffic... wasting a perfectly good opportunity."


	5. Waterfalls

"Min, are you sure you want to eat here?" Danny surveys the menu with a look of mild horror. 

"Eat here? Danny, I want to live here! I can't even start to decide!"

"I don't know what I was thinking when you said Cracker Barrel. I think I thought it was Crate and Barrel. Mindy, everything here is fried. I think some of it was fried twice." 

Mindy has a gleeful expression as she scans the laminated pages. "Breakfast. All. Day. Those are the most beautiful words, Danny." She flips back to the lunch menu. "Grits, do I want to try grits . Have you eaten grits? Of course you haven't, you're Italian. Should I try them? They sound so, I don't know. Gritty."

"It's almost four, we can get back on the road and just eat dinner in Savannah..."

"Daniel Castellano, my stomach is positively shrieking. We did not eat a real breakfast, and you refused to submit to my..." Her voice drops to a near whisper. "Carnal desires. You cannot deny me the chance to pig out on terrible, delicious southern food. That would make you a monster."

"Fine, I'll try to find something that doesn't have lard in it." Danny sighs and looks through the menu again. A stout, grandmotherly waitress with gold stars on her brown apron welcomes them to Lake Marion and asks if they're ready. Mindy orders a sweet tea and "coffee, black, no pork fat" for Danny and then begs for a little more time. 

Danny finally selects a turkey sandwich that he thinks he can order with a straight face, while Mindy "splurges"' on the country fried steak, mac and cheese, and hush puppies. She makes Danny try it all and he begrudgingly admits it's pretty damn good. 

"Damn good, Florence! Did you hear that?" Mindy crows as the waitress checks in. 

"I sure did, sugar." She winks at Danny and leaves them the check. 

After Danny pays, he finds her in the gift shop, picking out little souvenirs. Her eyes are shining as she holds up trinkets and beams at him. He wanders over to the enormous candy section and begins to wax poetic about salt water taffy and Necco wafers, so she adds some to her growing pile and gives him a slap on the butt as she pays. 

"You're so good to me, Min."

"So, you want me to drive the last bit?" She tosses one bag of souvenirs in the trunk but keeps the one with the candy up front. 

"No, it's okay, you can take a nap or something. And thanks for putting back on... you know. I just didn't want you flashing a restaurant full of people."

"We are Definitely stopping here on the way home, Danny. I think I want to try the grits after all. So I might eat all your candy but I'll buy you more." Mindy gazes out the window and sighs. "It's so lovely and romantic, Danny. Maybe we should have our honeymoon here." She cuts him a glance and he's looking at her with both eyebrows raised. "Just kidding, it's going to be the Bahamas."

"Well, you can't drive there, sweetheart, so you'd better get to work on getting us off the no-fly list. Unless it's not me you plan to have the honeymoon with?"

She shrugs. "You haven't asked, Danny, so it's just going to depend on who gets to me first, you, or Idris Elba. My money's on Elba, to be honest."

\---

Mindy never managed to nap with the copious amounts of sugar flowing through her. Instead, she let Danny listen to whatever he wanted while she texted, Instagrammed, and played TMZ videos. During stretches of time she was unable to fill due to lack of cell coverage, she kept Danny awake with quizzes from her magazines. They were both fairly tired once they got into Savannah and found the quaint, pricey bed and breakfast she had chosen for the night

"Danny, don't freak. I got an off season rate, and, well, I wanted this room, okay?"

"It's fine." He's decided to not even ask anymore. Mindy is happy and he's just going to grit his teeth and spend the money. She kisses his cheek and runs to check in. 

The room is not huge compared to the price tag, but it's super Southern and whimsical, styled after Scarlett O'Hara. "She's a huge influence on my life, Danny," Mindy explains as she sweeps into the room. 

"This bed is gonna be a huge influence on my life." 

"Ugh, you are not going to sleep on me again. We haven't even had dinner!"

"Min, we ate two hours ago and I told you..." Danny sits heavily on the bed, longing to close his eyes. Today's drive was longer and decidedly more frustrating than the prior day, and he was achey from sitting and mentally worn out. 

"You told me. You did, and we did eat, but babe, come on. At least stay up a little longer." Mindy climbs on the bed behind him and starts rubbing his shoulders. "There's a jacuzzi tub..."

Danny leans in to her touch. "Well, that does sound good. Nice hot water, bubbles jets, yeah. You're right." He stands up abruptly. "Well, I'm gonna take a bath then..."

"Hold it right there!" She jumps off the bed and grabs Danny's arm and he turns with a smirk. In a second, he has his hands around Mindy's waist and pulls her tight against him. 

"Oh, you didn't think I was gonna let you get away with that little exhibition in the car, did you?" He growls, sliding one hand down to her ass and giving it a goose. 

"God, I hope not," she sighs. "Tub. Now."

Again, there's no argument from Danny. He follows her into the bathroom and finds there's a bottle of wine chilling next to the tub. "You planned this trip very well."

"Thank you," she replies primly as she leans over to start the bath. Danny comes up behind her and grips her hips, pressing himself against her so he can reach up and unzip her dress. "Hey, slow down, buddy." Mindy turns and lets the dress slides off her shoulders coyly. "We've got all night and the water isn't even warm yet."

"Just get in, you'll heat it up," Danny murmurs, his hands eager against her silky flesh.

"Baby. Can we just go one night without your cheesy sex puns? Please?" 

He shrugs and rolls his eyes. "I'm not making any promises."

"Okay, then at least get naked." She sets to work undoing the buttons on his shirt as he undoes his pants. "Okay, finish that yourself, I'm going to check the temperature and DON'T YOU EVEN TRY checking mine, you perv." 

Danny flips a switch on the wall and the lighting changes from bright to softly lit. "Baby, why don't you put that music on?" 

"Oh my god, Danny Castellano wants some sex grooves playing. Okay, you better be in that tub when I get back!" 

Mindy returns with her phone to find the jets bubbling and Danny waiting with two glasses of wine poured. 

"I really want to take a picture right now, Danny. You don't know how hard it is for me to resist,"

"You don't know how hard... nope, no sex puns."

"Awww, baby." She sets her phone up to play, and while the speakers aren't exactly booming, it's loud enough to set the mood. Mindy sits on the side of the tub and runs her hands through the fizzing water. 

"Min." Danny's voice is low and thick. "Get in here."

She laughs and strips before climbing in opposite him and sinking into the warm, bubbly water, heR legs to either side of his. It's a roomy tub and the jets tickle her back and thighs. 

"This is so nice, Danny. I'm so stiff... that was such a long ride and I'm sore..." The wicked grin on her face tells him she knows exactly what her innuendos are doing to him. 

Danny reaches for her calf and runs his fingers along the length, resting behind her knee. She stretches the other leg out, gliding along his hip and up his side. 

"Have some wine." He holds a glass out to her and she reaches for it, but he pulls back so she has to come and get it. Tucking her legs back, Mindy rises onto her knees and shifts forward, sheets of water slicking down her body, and she straddles Danny, snaking the wineglass from his grasp. She takes a long sip and sets it back on the counter as she reaches to kiss him. 

Danny breaks the kiss and starts moving his lips downwards, leaving a hot trail with his open mouth along her throat to her collarbone. Mindy's hands dig into his hair and she arches back as he runs his hands down her spine, his mouth finding her soft slick breasts, teeth teasing her nipple. He slides one hand down to her ass while the other slips between her legs, stroking her and coaxing her downwards. 

Mindy sinks back into the water with a splash as Danny sits himself up a little and wraps his arms around her wet torso. As she sits, she can feel him pressed against her ass and she adjusts back up, reaching below her to grasp him as she steadies herself, holding the lip of the tub with her free hand. He's warm and wet and hard in her fingers and she gives him a little squeeze and positions him between her thighs. 

Danny moans and grabs her ass in his hands, thrusting up to meet her shallowly. Mindy makes a little sigh as she pushes her hips forward and a wave of water splashes over the side of the tub. 

"Fuck. We're gonna flood the place. This is a historic landmark, Danny." 

He laughs as she seats herself fully on him. "Just another place we won't be allowed back."

Mindy wraps her arms around his neck and he scoots forward a little, causing another wave to rise up, the bubbling water from the jets splashing as well. She's got her legs around his waist and neither of them can get much purchase to move, and when they do, water goes everywhere. 

"How do people fuck in these things?" Mindy squeals. "Everything's all slippery, and babe, I just want you to pound me!"

"Yeah, well, this was your idea. How about we just get out? My leg is falling asleep anyway."

Mindy gives him a pinch on the arm. "Rude!" She stands up, slightly wobbly, and grabs a towel, stepping gingerly out of the tub. Danny stays behind, aiming the jets at his sore back. 

"I'll be out in a minute."

"Fine! Who needs you anyway. I can take care of myself." Mindy snatches up her phone and leaves. 

"Min!" He calls after her as she stalks off. 

He's out in five minutes, a towel slung low around his hips, the wine in one hand. Mindy is curled up under the covers with her phone. 

"Okay,either you're quicker than I remember, or you meant something else entirely. Are you mad because my back was hurting? I was kidding about the dead leg." He wasn't, but that isn't conducive to the evening continuing the way he wants it to, so he gives her a hopeful smile. 

She sighs and puts back on the slow jams. 

"Get in here," she demands and whips back the sheet. 

Danny doesn't hesitate. The towel is dropped on the floor and he climbs in and reaches for her, pulling her on her side. He's still warm against her cooling skin and his mouth is even hotter, kissing her masterfully till her head is spinning. He nudges a knee between her legs. 

"Still want me to, what was it? Pound you?" Danny asks playfully, nipping at her bottom lip. Mindy doesn't answer, just hooks her leg around his hip and rolls onto her back, pulling him over on top of her. He reaches down and hoists her other leg up, pushing her open and slowly teasing her, rubbing his hard cock along her wet warmth. 

"Fuck, yes," she moans. He holds himself and seeks her opening, pushing in just enough to make her hum, then slipping out, slowly pumping back in. It's too much and not enough and Mindy growls, grabbing his ass and digging in. He takes the hint and thrusts deeper, rocking into her as she comes up to meet his rhythm, leaning down to kiss her as he loves to do while he's inside her. Intimacy has been a hard thing for him to accomplish and now he can't get enough. 

She can't keep kissing him, though, as she feels the waves of her orgasm build and crash, because she bit his lip really hard once and the mood was ruined with all the bleeding. She pulls away, her body lifting off the mattress as she arches into him, shuddering around him, and he follows as she clenches around him. He kisses her again as soon as she can breathe, and they lie together listening to the music as their muscles twitch and their bodies relax and cool off.

"I love you, Danny," Mindy sighs as he rolls them onto their sides. "But no more hot tub sex. I think we could have died, and that is not how I want to be found."

"It's a deal. But what about shower sex? Are we still good with that?" 

"Oh hell yes, showers." She kisses him on the cheek. "Now that we've worked up an appetite, let's go get dinner."


	6. Baby, You Can Drive My Car

"Three days, Danny. You've been driving for three days and you're literally as exhausted each night as if you'd been running instead. Driving is boring, but it's not tiring - you are physically sitting down the entire time."

Danny rubs his palm across his face. "It is tiring, Min. You have to have focus on the road at all times. You flinch, and boom, you just ran a busload of orphans off a cliff. I don't want that on my conscience!"

"You have to let me drive, then, so you can rest up from all this strenuous activity." The sarcasm is thick in Mindy's tone.

"Hey, you're the cause of most of my 'strenuous activity' so if I'm tired it's mostly your fault."

She crosses her arms haughtily. "Fine, then. No more sex till we get home, is that what you want?"

"Yeah, right Mindy. Like you could hold out that long." Danny smirks at her and she's immediately incensed.

"Of course I can! You're the one who might explode."

He just grins and shakes his head.

"Well then, I guess we've got ourselves a gentleman's agreement." Mindy cracks her knuckles and stretches out her arms. "You don't let me drive the car, I don't let you..."

Danny pulls over before she finishes the sentence.

"Ha! I knew you couldn't hold out!" She crows. 

\---

Mindy actually manages to put in two solid hours of driving before they stop for lunch and swap back. Naturally, she falls asleep afterwards, and she only wakes as the are on the outskirts of West Palm Beach.

"Did I miss anything?" She yawns sleepily.

"Just the chance to spend a few hours looking at swamps." Danny smiles at her. He spent most of the time sneaking glances at her as she slept. "Now that you're up, figure out the route to the hotel and when we'll be there. I want to call Richie and find out the plan for his last night as a bachelor!"

Mindy gives him a funny look. "He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh... I don't think he thought you'd want to go, Danny. You've got to get up early to pick up your mom and everything..."

"So? That doesn't mean I don't want to spend time with my brother and a few of his closest friends..."

"Danny, it's not exactly a few. It's more like a whole club full."

Danny frowns at her. "That's okay, I've been to clubs."

"Gay clubs, Danny? Or more accurately, clubs for LGBQT and non-binary, gender fluid? Where a cis het white guy like yourself might not exactly feel comfortable?"

"What did you call me?"

"Oh, Danny. I've got to get you on Tumblr."

"I literally have not understood a single word you've said."

"Talk to Richie."

\---

Danny simmers at a slow boil for the rest of the drive, commencing in a five minute rant about valet parking, to the valet, only stopping when Mindy wrenches the keys from his hands and drags him to the lobby. He's so worked up that he doesn't even flinch when they check in to the luxury hotel. Mindy lets him foot the bill for this one.

"Man, when I found out we were staying at a place called the Brazilian, I paid my waxer double!" Mindy gives him an elbow jab to the ribs, with no response. He's stewing. "Too bad I couldn't get you to come along! They could have given you the pink cheeks special."

Unlocking the door to a spacious suite, Danny throws down the suitcases in a huff. He refused the bellboy services, but tipped him anyway.

"I can't believe he doesn't want me to come along," Danny sighs, slumping in a huge overstuffed chair. Mindy simultaneously wants to comfort him and to explore the ridiculously posh room. She compromises by exploring the room.

"I mean, I support that kid in everything. And I do mean everything," he continues. "I went to all his plays as a kid. I went to his tennis matches. When he wanted to go in on that dog grooming place, West Palm Bichon, I was there with the checkbook. I've always been there for him, and here it is, the most important day of his life, and he doesn't want me there?"

"Well, technically, Danny, the pre-party isn't the most important day... Okay, I get your point. But why don't you just call him?" Mindy makes her way over and comes up behind him to rub his shoulders. Danny leans into her touch.

"I'm not gonna beg him to spend time with me. He's made his choice."

She kisses him on the cheek and makes the excuse that she has to unpack, but once she's in the other room, she sends Richie a 911 text telling him their room number.

\---

"Okay, Danny, which of these insanely sexy dresses should I wear tonight?" Mindy holds up two outfits, one a hot pink baby doll and the other black vinyl.

Danny looks up briefly and shrugs. "Why are you asking me? I won't be there."

There's a knock at the door and Mindy rushes to get it. She didn't want to explain the situation, so she had told Richie that she was stuck in a pair of mom jeans.

"You got out of the jeans, but I'm not sure you should have." Ramon waggles a finger at her sweatshirt and yoga pants combo.

"Hey, hey, it was a long drive, I dressed for comfort."

"Hey, Dan." Richie comes in to give his brother a hug, but Danny walks past him into the bedroom and closes the door. "Danny, what the hell?"

"He might be a little upset about the party tonight." Mindy volunteers.

"Oh boy." Richie takes off after his brother, leaving Mindy with Ramon. The two give each other huge grins and immediately begin digging through Mindy's wardrobe.

Danny emerges a moment later, Richie hot on his heels.

"Seriously, Danny, you're really overreacting. Of course you're welcome to come."

"Mindy, why did you tell him I was upset? I told you to leave it alone." His anger is fixed on Mindy now, and she really just wants to figure out which shoes to wear.

"You said you weren't going to talk to him. You didn't tell me not to!" She smiles sweetly. Danny's nostrils flare, and she can tell he wants to go off, but he's remembering his promise. Don't be a dick, Danny, she silently wills him. It seems to work.

"Look, I do want you there," Richie says, his hand on Danny's shoulder. "I didn't think you'd want to go, and I didn't want to make you feel like you had to, so I just... let it lie. You of all people should know how that goes, Danny."

"I'm just saying, you should have told me, and let me decide. I'm not afraid of your friends. I'm not going to embarrass you." Danny's hands are shoved in the front pocket of his jeans, his automatic emotional self defense move.

"Baby, you know the real reason why he didn't invite you," Mindy coos in his ear, with a wink to the boys. "He didn't want anyone attracting more attention than the two grooms. They want to be the hottest ones there."

"Yeah, yeah." Danny shrugs her off, but there's a flush on his cheeks and he gives her a glimpse of a smile. "Well, you assholes better get out of here so we can rest up."

"We?" Mindy squeals. "You're gonna go?"

"Hell yes, I am," he growls in her ear.

\---

Since they haven't yet spent enough money, or so Danny grumbles, they order room service for dinner, after a short nap and a long, hot shower. By the time Mindy is ready, to go Danny is ready to go back to bed. He's dressed all in dark gray and it's almost enough to tempt Mindy into staying in, but she used at least four dollars worth of hair products and the last of her Mac Sin lipstick so she's not going to waste it.

The club is everything she expected and everything Danny feared - loud, garish, and full of people far younger than them both. Everyone knows Richie and Ramon, and quickly everyone knows Mindy too, which means Danny is soon on his own. He tries hard to be personable, but it's easier to just stand there with a beer than to figure out which gender free pronouns to use at any particular time.

Mindy flits back to him when she has the chance, and that's fine at first, but then she goes from mingling to dancing and he starts to get disturbed. Disturbed and aroused, because she's been drinking enough to lose her inhibitions, and she didn't have many to start with.

He's watching her dance with two people, one who looks masculine and one who looks feminine, and he's given up trying to classify them in his mind. It doesn't matter, because the way she's sandwiched in between the two of them is a bit much, and he's certain at least one of them has a penis. Possibly both. Probably both, actually.

Mindy finds her way back to him and she's sweaty and glistening, her eyes sparkling and a bit glassy.

"Hey. Watch it with the dirty dancing out there." He tries not to sound jealous, but it creeps in his gravely voice.

She grins back flirtatiously. "Hey, I'm pretty sure you don't have anything to worry about here, Danny."

"Bullshit. You're so fucking sexy, it doesn't matter where we are. Someone wants to try and steal you from me." Danny puts his hands on her hips possessively and pulls her flush against him. She can feel him semi-hard against her belly.

"Well, that won't happen, for two reasons. One, I'm not something you own, so I can't be stolen. Two, and I want you to hear this very clearly, Mr. Castellano: I'm not leaving you. I will, however, dance with you, if you're so jealous it's giving you a boner. Because I don't want anyone here thinking they can steal you from me." Mindy runs her hands down his back to his ass and gives him a good hard squeeze.

"No one can steal me. You don't own me, either."

"Oh hell, yes, I own you." She whispers in his ear, running her tongue over the curves and nipping at his earlobe. He acquiesces.

\---

They haven't seen Richie or Ramon in over an hour. All they've done is dance, drink, and make out, and most of the time they were doing more than one of those at once. As it nears midnight, Danny starts being more obvious about looking at his watch and yawning. Mindy just grinds against him in response every time, and soon they're nearly dry humping on the dance floor again.

"Min, you're gonna kill me if you keep this up," Danny whispers over the booming bass. They can't really talk, but they mostly haven't needed to.

"Keep what up? Keep this up?" She palms him through his slacks. "I like when this is up."

"Fuck. Where the hell is my brother? We need to leave."

"We can't go yet, Danny. There's supposed to be a big deal at midnight, they shoot off a confetti cannon or something. We can't go before the cannon goes off!"

"There's gonna be more than one cannon going off at midnight unless you stop..."

Mindy just laughs and pulls him off the dance floor. "Let's get some air."

She pulls him out to the back, where there's a fire exit into an alley. After wedging her shoes in the door to keep it from locking behind them, she pushes Danny up against the wall and wraps herself around him.

"You said you wanted air, I didn't think you meant to suck it out of my lungs!"

"Oh, shut up."

Danny flips them around, grabbing Mindy's hands and holding them up over her head. Without her heels, he has a precious few inches on her and uses that at his advantage. She chose the black vinyl dress and it's sticking to her thighs as he tries to shove her legs apart with his knee.

"Why the fuck didn't you wear the other dress?"

"I've been asking myself that all night!"

Giving up on that, Danny grabs her ass in both hands and hikes her legs up around his waist. She clings on tightly, reaching one hand between them to unzip his pants and pull his cock out, resulting in him gasping into her mouth.

"Mindy, stop, someone could come out here any minute."

"We're in an alley outside a club called Fort Dix. I'm just hazarding a guess that yours is not the first to be handled in this way." She kisses him silent and slides her underwear to the side to allow him entrance. "Might be the first vagina, though."

They've gotten far too worked up from the endless foreplay to last long. Danny thrusts hard and fast into her, partly seeking a quick release, partly wanting to be done before they get arrested. Mindy digs her fingernails into his back and comes forcefully. Danny follows suit, almost losing his grip on her as his orgasm makes him weak in the knees.

He sets her back down as he slips out of her, tucking himself back into his pants as he says Hail Marys in his head. He's not sure how he's going to get through the pearly gates when his mouth is covered in Sin, but he'll find a way


	7. My Girl

"Aaaahhhhhh! Danny, the light!" Mindy burrows her face into the pillow, throwing the blanket over her head and moaning miserably. 

"Sorry, I gotta find my shoes. Have you seen my shoes?" Danny is half dressed and panicky. "Ma's plane is landing and I gotta go. Oh, there they are!"

"Doyuwammedagowttu?" 

"What?"

Mindy pulls back the blanket, her eyes clenched tight against the bright light coming in from the window. She enunciates the words as clearly as she can. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, no, no. Go back to sleep. If you wake up before I'm back, order up some room service." Danny closes the drapes and Mindy is back to sleep before he makes it out of the room. 

She isn't much more coherent when he returns two hours later. She's still in bed, but a room service cart is beside her. The gap in the drapes keeps the room from total darkness.

"Min, did you eat all this?" Danny pokes through the remains of what appears to be pancakes, waffles and crepes. 

"Obviously I didn't eat ALL of it or there wouldn't be anything left," she grunts from under the covers. 

"Right, I just meant... Never mind." Danny pulls back the sheet and leans in to give her a kiss. Mindy has a bluish stain across her cheek that tastes like boysenberries. She pushes him away and he grabs a hand and kisses that too. "Did you eat with your fingers, Mindy? There's a fork right there!"

She rolls away from him, curling up on her side. "Don't judge me."

"Are you going to be okay for the rehearsal dinner?" Danny's a little worried - Mindy normally holds her liquor very well. He can't remember seeing her quite so laid out by a little booze. "We have to be there by four, and it's almost eleven. Is five hours even enough time to do your makeup?" 

Mindy rolls back and glares for a solid minute before grunting and rolling back. 

"Are you ever going to get out of bed?" Danny teases. He is met with frustrated mumbling. "Fine. I guess I'll get in then."

She just shrugs and burrows deeper. 

Danny shucks his clothing, stopping at the waistband of his shorts. It feels a little presumptuous to climb in naked, and it's a little decadent for late morning, but there is one fairly reliable method of getting Mindy out of a funk. Off come the shorts. 

"I wish there was something I could do." He murmurs, curling up behind her, not quite touching. Danny pushes her hair off her neck and leans in to kiss her nape. Mindy sighs. This encourages him, so he moves his mouth down and runs kisses over her shoulder blade, sliding down the thin strap of her top. His hand finds her waist and he slips it under the satiny fabric, resting on her belly. 

"How am I going to get you up, sweetheart?" Danny whispers into her ear, nibbling at the lobe and running his tongue along the edge. He moves closer and starts moving his hand in concentric circles along her belly button, dipping lower each time, subtly pushing down the edge of her boy short bottoms. His hips bump up against her ass and it's pretty clear what he has in mind as his growing arousal nestles up against her. 

"Humph!" Mindy snorts. "You're just being a big old horndog, Danny."

He smiles against her neck. He isn't as subtle as he thought, obviously. He mumbles an apology and moves away, taking his hand off her tummy and rolling onto his back, all the while willing his anatomy to be a little less eager. 

"Well, I didn't say stop," Mindy grumbles, and he stifles a laugh. 

Rolling back against her, he nuzzles her neck and she turns her head towards him, seeking the heat of her mouth with his own. Danny kisses her languidly, enjoying the way her body relaxes against his, even as she pushes her bottom into him with a little urgency. 

"You wanna?" he asks cautiously. She grins and kisses him harder, murmuring her answer into his mouth. 

He returns his hand to her warm skin and slips it further down, tracing patterns on her lower abdomen as he eases her shorts off. His hand is slow and gentle, running over her already slick lips, parting them with a teasing finger. Mindy stops kissing him so she can catch her breath as a low rumble comes from her throat. 

Danny moves with a practiced rhythm, coaxing more sounds from her as his fingers fly over her clit. She's concentrating on her impending orgasm and doesn't even notice Danny's impudent erection pressing between her cheeks. Danny is patient, though, wanting her to reach her peak before he even tries anything more, because he's way too worked up to last long if he's not careful. She does that to him. 

It doesn't take much more to finish her, and when he's worked her through it, Danny slips his hand free and moves his hand towards his mouth. It's been too long since he's tasted her. She intercepts and grabs his wrist, gazing into his eyes as she licks at his fingers herself. This is almost enough to make him come right there, as she grins mischievously at her own flavor. He kisses her so he can share the taste. 

Danny runs his hand down to his cock. He's so hard it's plastered against his belly and he moves to slide it between her damp thighs before slowly pushing between her lips. Mindy moves her leg to give him a better angle and he thrusts inside. She's impossibly tight from this position and when he's fully seated she squeezes him, pulling a guttural groan from deep in his throat. 

It's all he can do to keep it together, moving as slow as he can, wanting to bring her off again before he finds his own release. Danny adjusts his hips and hooks an arm around her knee, drawing it closer to her body as he thrusts more shallowly. He knows he's hit the right spot when Mindy arches her back and digs her nails into the sheets with a moan. 

His movements increase in pace, not quite deep enough to push him over the brink but it's definitely doing it for Mindy. She's chanting "Oh fuck, Danny, oh Danny" and writhing, smashing her face into the pillow. Danny feels like a beast, wrapping his arm around her torso and crushing her against his chest, finally succumbing to the need for his own stimulation and thrusting hard and deep before resuming his short pumps. 

Mindy comes with a shriek that dissolves into panting breathy moans and her shuddering clenches bring Danny to his own climax. They're both wet, sweaty messes and Mindy utters a huge, long sigh and then bursts into a fit of giggles. She turns in Danny's arms, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and snuggling. 

"Jokes on you, Castellano. Now I never want to leave this bed."

He chuckles, kissing her forehead. "Me either."

Mindy pulls back and gazes into his heavy lidded eyes, still recovering. "I have to say, Danny, for all the compliments I give you about your skillful mouth, I really need to pay respects to your fantastic penis, too."

Danny throws back his head and laughs heartily, squeezing her tight. 

"No, really, it's a work of art. A masterpiece."

"It helps to have an amazing canvas. An amazingly hot, sexy canvas." 

_A canvas I want to make pregnant._ The though flits through his mind so suddenly he startles. 

"What?" Mindy senses it instantly. 

"Nothing. I love you." Danny kisses her again before she can ask any more questions. He sends her off to shower and lays back in the bed to figure out where the hell that came from. It's not like he hasn't thought about it on occasion, but never with such sudden intensity. The idea of Mindy, her belly swollen with his child, her nipples darkened from motherhood, it's just the most beautiful thing he can imagine. 

But damn it, this thought has no place in his head right now, so he pushes it back and joins Mindy in the shower. They laugh and soap each other up and make out a little bit, and then he wraps himself in a towel and goes to watch the news while she primps. 

\---

They have no problem being on time for the rehearsal dinner, but Danny is a little nervous about introducing Mindy to his family - more specifically, his mother. He needn't have worried, as she charms his uncles and cousins and Annette is a bit relaxed after two glasses of gin, so she only makes a few obnoxious remarks. 

Richie and Ramon, on the other hand, have never stopped squabbling. The irritability factor is clearly a family trait and Richie is a ball of nerves, bitching out anyone that crosses his path. Poor Ramon has only a few distant relatives there and they make themselves scarce. 

"You know what? I'm gonna let you have your little family reunion without me, so you can find someone else to pick on!" Ramon huffs out, leaving Richie red faced and sulking. 

Mindy gets it. She's been on the receiving end of that Castellano temper more than a few times, so she takes off to find him while the others try to soothe Richie. 

She finds him outside by a brilliant fountain, dabbing his reddened eyes. "Ramon. Come here, baby. Let me comfort you in the way only a woman can comfort a gay man. Put your head on my enormous breasts and let it all out."

"Oh, Mindy, you're the worst. Thank you." He hugs her and pulls her to sit beside him. "Tell me I'm right, Richie is being an ass, isn't he?"

"Totally," she reassures him. "The assy-est. but he's just stressed and nervous. Don't take him seriously. He loves you. These men are just terrible with emotions, you know?"

"But I've done everything just the way he wants it. All the wedding party have butts in their pants. Why does he take it out on me?"

"Have you met their mother?" Mindy laughs and hugs him again. "Look, you just need to deal with him the way I deal with Danny. Find someplace quiet where you won't be interrupted and..." She makes an incredibly rude gesture with her hand and mouth. 

"Hey, I've been with a Castellano man much longer than you have, you think I don't know what to do?" Ramon scowls at her. "I just don't feel much like doing that when he's been such a, such a..."

"Such a dick?"

"Ugh. That's an insult to dicks. He's being a vagina."

"Hey!" Mindy grimaces at him. "That's rude."

"Well fair's fair. But I love him so much..."

"I know... And it will be okay, you just have to try not to react. It just works them up even more, and not in the way you want, if you know what I mean..."

There's an exaggerated clearing of the throat and they look up to see Richie standing awkwardly a few feet away. "Mindy, can I interrupt you and have a moment with Ramon?"

She excuses herself and goes inside to find Danny, who is being nagged by his mother. "Danny, you used to come over for dinner every week. Now you have this girlfriend, I never see you. Dot and I are eating the lasagne leftovers for three days!"

"Mmmm, I love lasagne!" Mindy smiles brightly at Annette, who frowns in response. 

"I make it with ground beef. That's COW meat, and I know you people worship them. I wouldn't want you to go to hell." Her expression is a little contradictory. 

"Oh,it's okay. Us people don't believe in Hell!" 

She gives the older woman a wink and pokes Danny in the ribs.

"Danny!" His mother is aghast. 

"Ma, settle down. Mindy and I will come to dinner and we can worry about her soul then. Let's just get through this weekend, okay?"

Richie and Ramon come back inside, hand in hand, and Richie looks visibly relaxed. Ramon catches Mindy's eye and winks.


	8. We Are Family

"Babe, you're seriously oversweating for the situation. Your job is literally to stand there for an hour - relax."

Danny runs his hand across the back of his neck, then drops his arm when he catches a glimpse in his reflection of the damp patch beneath it. "Shit. I know..." He gives her a sheepish grin in the mirror as he attempts to knot his tie. His fingers are shaking. 

"Danny, you know your brother is the one getting married, right?" Mindy turns him and takes his hands off the figurative noose around his throat, deftly tying the salmon cloth. Since the entire wedding party is male, the grooms opted to have them wear navy suits, while they themselves have matching white tuxes. 

"Yeah, yeah, it's not that." Danny swallows hard and looks at the sky. "Maybe a little..."

"Okay, I get that you've got some kind of PTSD going in, but for Richie's sake, try to chill. Do you want me to go find you some Xanax, or weed? I hear it helps." Mindy gives him an exaggerated wink.

"No, geez. Look, I'll just put on the jacket, it's fine." 

"Sure, we can say you just got out of the shower." She pulls him close for a kiss, then dips his head down and kisses his forehead. His sigh is a little bashful. 

She sends him off to join the small wedding party and finishes getting ready, trying not to dwell on his fears and what effect they may have in the future. Not that she even should be thinking in that direction, but she has, of course. It certainly doesn't bode well that he's a wreck just thinking of standing at the end of a wedding aisle. 

Mindy's dress was picked by Ramon and so she feels confident, even though it's more pastel than she prefers, because it has the bold florals and sleek silhouette she loves, and also the gay stamp of approval. Her shoes have the lower heel that she's tended to wear lately, what with the higher ones putting her a tad too close to Danny's height. She loves the way their bodies fit together, how she can tuck her head under his chin while they're standing, and how everything aligns just right when they're not. So she wouldn't trade him in for a taller version - except for when she really wants those 4" stilettos to give her killer calves. But what is a relationship if not compromises? 

She's beaming when she arrives at the wedding and sees him, much calmer now, walking his mother down the aisle to her seat. She's escorted by one of Ramon's cousins, most obviously a straight one by the way he checks out her backside, and Mindy catches Danny's eye as he turns and sees them. If he's jealous, he hides it well, and she's maybe a wee bit disappointed. But he stops and gives her a quick cheek kiss, his go-to in most public situations, and slips next to her on the bench for a moment.

"You look sensational, sweetheart," he whispers in her ear. 

"You too, handsome. And you seem calmer, and...dryer. Did you find some weed after all?" 

Danny makes a face. "You make me quit smoking, now you want me to smoke weed?" 

Mindy just giggles. "You quit for your health. There's no way I could "make" you do anything."

"Oh, there's ways..." He waggles his eyebrows, and she pushes him off the seat so he can rejoin the party. He walks backwards, grinning at her the whole way back. 

It's an accepted thing to cry at weddings. So what if the tears are less about the grooms, resplendent in white with salmon accents, and more about the devastatingly handsome man standing beside them? Mindy can't tear her eyes from him, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't keep herself from picturing him in a tux of his own. It doesn't help when he mouths an "I love you" to her as the boys exchange their vows. 

She scolds herself - she does not need to think about this right now. Obviously, it's too soon, and the wedding atmosphere is just fueling her silly fantasies, but still - damn, he looks good. 

After the ceremony, the wedding party goes to take photos, and Danny is insistent that Mindy come along. She hangs back at first, while first the grooms, then the groomsmen, take formal shots. After that, it gets a little looser, and Richie poses with Danny and Annette. Ramon joins them, and soon Danny is beckoning to her to complete the photo. 

It's not often that Mindy avoids a photo op, but she feels awkward, especially after she hears Annette mutter something about family. 

"Your mom is right, Danny. You should just have your family in these shots. Maybe they can get us at the reception." She pulls her hands free from his and moves away. 

Danny is quick to follow her, wrapping an arm boldly around her waist and walking her back to the others. "Mindy, come on. You are family." 

She hopes the photographer didn't catch the glisten of tears in her eyes. 

Danny managed to get her a seat at the main table at the reception, which ends up being a wee bit closer to a rave than a traditional party, what with the glow sticks and techno music. They feast and laugh through dinner, until Ramon calls for toasts and then calls on Danny to give a quick speech. 

Danny is terrible at speeches. 

He is, however, a master at writing some pretty breathtaking words, and stands up with shaking hands to deliver them. He tells of how he helped raise his brother, and how his own outlook on life has changed as a result of it, and there are tears all around. 

"One more thing, one more thing," he stammers. "This, uh, this event here, it's a culmination of a lot of hard work, and I don't mean just by the planners. The community and the work that's been done to make it possible for my brother to marry the man he loves, it's pretty amazing." Danny turns and looks at Mindy for a moment before continuing. "Love is amazing. When you're lucky enough to have someone you love, who loves you... Aw, shit, I'm getting all soppy up here."

He turns back and toasts the happy couple, who kiss and announce that it's time to dance. 

And dance they do, with great abandon. Danny is working up yet another sweat when the music changes and a ballad comes on, changing the mood of the dance floor from ridiculous to romantic. Mindy was in the middle of getting down with Richie when Danny grabs her and whirls her into his arms to slow dance. 

It's lovely. 

"We've actually never done this before," he murmurs into her ear. She steps on his feet a bit, but he doesn't mind. 

She's tucked perfectly under his chin and she relaxes into him, arms around his neck. His hands rest on the small of her back as they sway together and she feels like she could do this forever. 

 "Seriously, though, Danny. You seem to have been pretty relaxed up there. What did the trick?"

He pulls his head back and gazes at her. "Richie and Ramon just looked so happy, and I was so proud of them, how courageous they are, and I don't know. It just felt alright." He grins, the corner of his mouth quirking up sexily. "It didn't hurt to look out there and see your gorgeous face, either." 

"Danny," Mindy leans in and whispers, her lips grazing his ear. "How early can the best man leave without it looking bad?"

He pulls back and surveys the room, then checks his watch. "9:15?"

"What time is it now?"

Danny tugs her into a kiss and murmurs against her mouth. "9:14"


	9. Mama Weer All Crazee Now

"Babe."

There's no response, just measured, slightly rattling breathing. 

"Babe. Wake up. Babe." Mindy's gentle nudging isn't working, so she resorts to prodding Danny and finally giving his arm a light pinch. 

"Mmmph." 

"I'm sorry to wake you like that." She leans over to kiss his cheek and he grabs her around the waist. 

"You know how you could have woken me up..." 

"Perv. I'm starving! I need waffles, preferably with strawberries. What do you want?"

Danny smiles at her sleepily. "I'll just have some of yours."

"Oh, no you don't. Last time you ate all my bacon and I ordered double!" She tosses a room service menu at him. "Order my waffles and bacon please, and get yourself an omelet or something. I'm gonna take a quick shower." 

By the time she's done, half the hot water supply to the hotel is depleted, and there's only one unused towel left, but Mindy is washed, waxed and moisturized. It's their last day in Florida and Danny promised to take her on a little tourist trip, but she really just wants to curl up and watch cheesy TV and maybe hang out by the pool for a bit. 

Two room service carts greet her when she emerges from her steamy cocoon wearing a short pajama set. She eagerly begins lifting the silver lids and cooing over the feast. 

"It's already here? I guess I was in there a while! Mmmm! Danny, is this cinnamon roll French toast? I love you!"

"I couldn't decide what to get," he shrugs. 

Mindy crawls back into bed with a plate for them each, and they proceed to sample some of each dish, though she claims most of the bacon. 

"Danny, what do you think Richie and Ramon are doing right now?" She asks, scraping sugary sauce off the plate, because Danny won't let her lick the plate directly. 

"I'm not sure I really want to think about that, Min."

He's rewarded with a smack on the shoulder. "That's not what I mean. What are they thinking about? Are they excited, scared, what?"

"Both, probably. I don't know."

"Well, you've been there. What did it feel like the day after you got married?"

Danny grabs the last piece of bacon and crunches it, avoiding the question a moment longer.

"It's hard to remember. I was...tired. It was a long day, and we didn't get much sleep." He pauses and Mindy makes a face. "You asked. But I guess I was hopeful, maybe proud, because she was my first serious relationship, and I thought I was really succeeding in life. I hooked a big one, you know? Everything was going my way." He shakes his head and sighs. "I was naive and over confident. I just didn't know yet how much I didn't know. But when I looked back at our relationship - and I really try to avoid doing that, as you well know..."

Mindy laughs. Danny looks down to see she's grabbed his hand and he squeezes it, looking back up into her eyes. "When I did, I could see the issues that Christina and I had were there all along. Getting married didn't solve anything for us, and I guess I foolishly believed it would. I think that's part of why I tried to rekindle things, you know? I couldn't accept the fact that we just didn't belong together, that it wasn't my own failure and I could just fix it... It's weird talking about this with you."

"It's good, Danny," Mindy encourages. "You've kind of been there through all my crazy relationships, but we never really addressed yours."

"You've addressed a few of them," he grins. 

"Yeah, but I don't think I'm wrong to think things between us are a little different..."

"You're not wrong." Danny strokes her hair and smiles. "And I just want you to know, I may not remember a lot of details from that day, but I can tell you for certain that I'm happier right now with you than I ever was with her." 

"Oh God, Castellano, if I wasn't so in love with you already, that would definitely do the trick."

"Hey, you want total honesty, you're gonna have to deal with it." Danny leans in and kisses her, then tumbles out of the bed. "My turn for the shower, then we can do whatever you want." 

"Babe, when I am not so stuffed full of carbs, you are what I want."

Mindy nibbles the last of the toast and flips channels while she waits. When there's a knock at the door, she's a little startled, but figures room service may be coming to pick things up and Danny didn't flip the "do not disturb" back on, so she doesn't look through the peephole.

She's surprised to see Danny's mother standing there. 

"Annette! Good morning!"

"Morning. So you shared a hotel room, eh?" Annette has a scowl that probably intimidates most, but Mindy is made of stronger stuff. 

"Well, we drove out from New York, so it might have gotten a little costly if we hadn't... Danny's in the shower, do you want to come in and wait?" Mindy steps back to allow the older woman entrance. 

She shuffles in, setting her purse on the table and sitting down. "I didn't really come to talk to him anyway," she mutters. 

Mindy sits on the other side of the table. "Well then... What can I do for you?"

"What's really going on with you two?" Annette fixes her with a steely glare. 

"I'm not sure what you mean." 

"I mean, my son is very important to me. I think I need to know your...intentions."

"Oh, okay. Well I think that's what my dad is supposed to say to Danny, but whatever. Annette, your son is very important to me, too. I have the best of intentions." Mindy smiles and reaches to pat her hand, but she draws it away. 

"It's fine to say that, but I don't think you realize what he's been through. I don't want to see him hurt again." 

"Of course you don't. I don't want that either. And I can't say that we will never hurt each other, because we're humans and we make mistakes. But I can assure you, you and I both want the same thing, for Danny to be happy. And Annette, I think I make him happy."

"I think you do, too. Why do you think I'm so worried?" The older woman shakes her head. "It hasn't been easy, you know? Loving my boys unconditionally, even though they both do things that I'm supposed to judge them for. Some of my friends, some of our family, they don't understand. But I'm their mother, I have to love them no matter how hard it might be, and I'll never stop loving them. But others... I can't control that and it scares me."

"It's okay to be afraid sometimes. And I know you don't know me well yet, but you will, and you'll learn to trust me, because I'm not going anywhere. I love Danny, and I'll love him as long as he lets me. I hope that's a very long time."

"Ma. What are you doing here?" 

Both women turn at the sound of Danny's voice. He's in the bathroom doorway in his robe, hair still damp. Annette stands and goes to hug him. 

"Danny, dear, I wanted to say goodbye."

"Do you need me to drive you to the airport?" Danny hugs her back, looking at Mindy. 

"No, the boys are driving me, they're flying out for their honeymoon and it's just an hour later so we're going to spend some time catching up. They were too busy yesterday to pay much attention to an old lady." She turns and smiles tentatively at Mindy. "You guys have a safe trip back."

"We will, Ma. Call me when you land, let me know it's all good, okay?" 

Mindy joins them and Annette reaches out and takes her hand. "You remember what I said, okay?"

"Absolutely. Have a good flight. Maybe we can come for dinner when we get back?"

"I'd like that."

There's a moment of awkwardness after she leaves. Mindy starts puttering around with the room service carts and Danny comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her. "Hey," he whispers in her ear. 

"Hey," she replies, relaxing and turning around in his embrace, smiling up at him. 

"So you were talking to my mom a little bit there..."

She's not sure how much he heard. "Yeah, just getting to know her a little."

"You're a terrible liar, Lahiri. She was grilling you. I overheard it."

Mindy rests her head on his chest. "Okay...you probably shouldn't have..."

"Don't worry about my mom. She's a wonderful person, but she can be a little overwhelming."

"She loves you, and she wants what's best for you, Danny. I just have to convince her it's me!"

"I have no doubt you will. You convinced me, after all."

She pinches him. "I don't think I was the one doing the hard sell, buddy. You had to convince yourself AND me. Your mom should be a pushover."

Danny takes her face in his hands and kisses her, from her forehead down her nose and finally lands on her mouth, kissing her slowly. 

Mindy slips her hands inside his robe, one moving around his back, the other reaching for his neck and tangling in his damp curls. He runs his hands down her body. 

"You done digesting those waffles yet?" 

"Seriously, so sexy, Danny. You just know all the right things to say."


	10. Wherever I Lay My Hat

"Danny? This is ridiculous. We've been back from Florida a week, and I've only seen you for five minutes at a time. That's not even enough for a quickie in the hot pipe room. Jeremy needs to knock this revenge shit off! We even came home a day early. He needs to hop off my dick!"

Mindy is pacing angrily, her phone on speaker on the bathroom counter as she gets ready for another 12 hour day. 

"Look, I know, it's been rough, but it's not all his fault. Pete went off on that stupid thing with his frat..."

"Paintball tournaments aren't stupid, Danny! They won the regional championship. You know..."

"Min, cool it with the derails, I've got to get to my next patient." Danny interrupts her grumpily. "Anyway, Jeremy says the scheduling..."

"He says it SHEDuling and it always makes me laugh because that's not even a word." 

"Okay, never mind, I have to go." 

Mindy taps the speaker button and puts the phone to her ear. "I'm sorry. I drank like three Red Bulls because I didn't get to bed till 2am last night, so I'm just a little amped up. I know they had to get us in enough hours to keep us affiliated with the hospital, but that should have been calculated before we left."

Danny's voice is drained. "Min, I've seriously gotta go. I love you."

"I love you too!" She squeals, nearly poking her eye with the mascara wand. "When will you be home? I left some..."

"Text me, gotta go." 

She stares at the phone. "Well I'll be, Danny Castellano, master of modern technology. Text me! Huh."

She unsnaps her bra and takes a quick selfie before dressing, just so Danny can see what he's missing. 

The patient load ends up being lighter then planned due to a couple of cancellations and Mindy's enjoying a longer than usual lunch break in her office when the door opens and Danny strolls in, looking exhausted. 

"Danny! What are you doing here! I thought you said you were on call till tonight?" She jumps up and gives him a quick kiss.

"Yeah, Jer took pity on me and took over so I could get some rest. He said I looked like 'the dog's bollocks' which I'm guessing isn't a compliment."

Mindy shakes her head. "Go home and sleep."

"I've got to take his 4pm appointment, so it's better that I just stay. Besides, we haven't gotten to spend any quality time together." He collapses on the little sofa and throws an arm over his eyes. 

"Mmm, I don't think we're gonna get any now. Did you eat? I have an extra calzone, and by that I mean the calzone I was planning to eat but I can share if you're hungry." 

"Sausage?" He says with a little grin, emphasizing the second syllable. 

"It's pepperoni. You've got the only sausage I want in my mouth." 

"Damn it, Mindy, don't say that shit when you can't act on it." Danny shifts uncomfortably. A week without sex, for them, is like a year in human years. 

She locks the office door and joins him on the couch. "Who says I can't?"

"Babe, babe. We agreed, no fraternization on site." He gently moves her hand from his thigh. 

"That's not what you said a few weeks ago, remember, when the cleaning lady nearly caught us."

"It was after hours, it didn't count. And I'm really tired, Min. It wouldn't even be good." Danny sits up to kiss her temple and lies back against the cushions, shutting his eyes again. 

"Ugh!" Mindy sighs. "At this point even not good would work for me. I'm losing it, Danny. On the subway this morning, some kid pushed my ass into a pole and I almost called out your name. I saw a woman eating a corn dog and I was jealous, and not because I wanted a corn dog, for once! THIS CANT GO ON."

"I know. Babe, let me at that calzone." 

"Really, on the couch? I'm not wearing a skirt so this might be tricky."

"What? No, your lunch. Jesus, Mindy!"

She frowns and gets up to toss him the paper sack, slumping in her chair with disappointment. 

Danny leaves the office after his appointment and Mindy is stuck there for a few hours, but she manages to get to his apartment just as the sun is setting. 

"It's gorgeous outside, Danny. Come look at the sunset with me," she shouts as she bustles in his door, and then she stops. The room is dark, the only light coming from the dining room table, which is set with two candles. "Whoa."

"Hey, sweetheart. I made dinner." Danny still looks tired, and his hair is rumpled like he just rolled out of bed, but she doesn't care. He's adorable. When she reaches him, she kisses him softly, enjoying the luxury of a little time. 

"I got rid of my morning appointments," she murmurs. "Maybe if we eat now, I can get home and come back here for a little morning nookie."

"Just stay the night," Danny says decisively. 

"I can't, I didn't bring work clothes, and it would take forever to go home and then back to the office in the morning, even if I don't have to be in till 10." She sniffs the air. "What did you make? It's heavenly."

"Spaghetti al carbon and a little antipasto salad. And I've got a bottle of Sangiovese and some garlic bread."

"You're so Italian."

"Damn straight." He kisses her again. "This is nuts, Min. Stay the night, we can figure something out in the morning." His hand roams to her rump. "I can't watch this walk out tonight."

"Danny," she begins to protest. 

"Shhh. You know what? You just need to move in here. I know, it's soon..."

Mindy pushes him back and gives him a hard eye. "What? What did you just say?"

Danny stumbles on his words. "I, uh, I said, you, uh, you should move in. Is that wrong? Do you not want..."

"Of course I want, Danny. But is that really what you want? I mean, you've been pretty clear about living together before marriage, and I don't want you to agree to do something if you don't really want to do it."

He shakes his head and pulls her closer. "I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't want to, okay?"

"You say that, but you also said you really wanted to try Ethiopian food, and then we did and you complained for days. And that was just food! What if...what if you try living with me and don't like it? It's not as easy as leaving a bitter, rambling review on Yelp. I can't be thrown at the wall like a piece of injera, Danny. I cannot be injera to you! " she wrestles herself out of his grip and heads over to the window, where the last pinkish rays of the sunset are on the horizon. 

"Hey, hey, calm down." Danny comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck. "Mindy, I love you. And yeah, I don't think I'd normally ever consider moving this fast, and maybe it's crazy... But after spending a week with you, basically 24/7, and neither of us actually killed each other, I just... I don't know... I guess I got used to it?"

"Oh, you charmer." Mindy turns in his arms. "I'm really not sure that's going to convince me, babe."

"I mean, I liked it. I liked knowing you'd be there no matter what. I mean yeah, you had nowhere to go, but still. It felt right, being with you all the time. And maybe this week our schedule is out of wack, but it's not like we're blessed with a ton of free time normally anyway. Look, I just want to know when I come home after a long day, I don't have to think about where you are, and if you can come over here, or if I can go there. I just want to walk in the door and see you, I don't know, vacuuming?"

"HA!"

"Okay, reading a magazine and listening to horrible music. Two things I hate, and still, with you, it's bearable. But doesn't that sound good? You come home to me, doing things you hate? And we can mutually ignore each other while doing them, because we know when we're done, the other will be there."

"Also, we can have a lot more sex."

Danny nods enthusiastically. "A LOT." He kisses her again. "Dinner is getting cold. Mindy, you'll never be Ethiopian food to me. I don't love it, I don't want to live with it, I don't want to marry it."

Mindy's eyes light up. "Marry?"

"Cool your jets. I'm not proposing... right now. I know you wouldn't let me off without skywriting and a rock the size of a grapefruit."

"Damn straight," she giggles, nodding. 

Danny takes her hands in his and brings them to his mouth, kissing the backs sweetly. "Let's have dinner. Anything else that might be on the menu can wait a little longer. And then we can figure out when we can move some of your stuff..."

"SOME of my stuff, Danny? We'll need a U-Haul for my shoes alone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! Thanks for going on this long trip with me. I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
